The present invention relates to flash flow processing, and, in particular, to a method of improving flash flow processing. The present invention also relates to improving the product of flash flow processing.
Flash flow processing is referred to as the process in which a phenomena occurs wherein a solid carrier material is subjected to conditions of temperature and shear sufficient to provide internal flow at a subparticle level. This condition produces the transformation of physical and/or chemical structure. Internal flow occurs when the infrastructure of the material breaks down sufficiently to permit movement of a particle at a subparticle level, and probably at a molecular level. At a molecular level, internal flow contemplates the movement of molecules relative to each other.
Flash flow phenomena occurs in a very short time, usually not more than a second, preferably on the order of a tenth of a second. One method of producing flash flow processing conditions includes subjecting a feedstock material to flash heat in the presence of centrifugal force provided by a spinning head, such as in a cotton candy type machine. The heat, which is provided by a heating element along the wall of the spinning head, is considered to provide flash heat, which, when combined with the centrifugal force provided by the spinning head, induces deformation of the feedstock material through openings located in the wall of the spinning head. The material reforms as a solid having altered, physical and/or chemical structure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,326, issued Aug. 8, 1989 to Dr. Richard C. Fuisz, various substances having pharmacological properties are disclosed as being combined with sugar and spun into fibers to produce a readily water-soluble product. Another patent issued to Dr. Fuisz regarding flash flow processing is U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,532 issued Apr. 30, 1991, which discloses combining oleaginous substances with sugar and melt spinning the mixture in a cotton candy spinning machine or the equivalent. Other disclosures which relate to spinning substances with one or more sugars are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,085 issued Oct. 8, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,421 issued Jul. 23, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,632 issued Jul. 2, 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,856 issued Mar. 5, 1991. The products described in the above-mentioned patents are all produced by processing in a cotton candy type machine.
There is no indication in any of the references cited above, however, of the use of certain ingredients to modify the composition of the feedstock and thereby improve the process and product resulting therefrom.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide such a method and the product resulting therefrom.